Payment cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, stored value cards, or the like are a part of everyday life. For quite some time, most cards had a magnetic stripe to store payment account information which was read by a magnetic stripe reader at a point of sale (“POS”) terminal. The magnetic stripe reader would read information including a payment account number from magnetic stripe, and then communicate the information to a payment network for processing. The reading of a magnetic stripe is typically an “all or nothing” type of read. Either the reader successfully reads the information or it doesn't. As a result, POS terminals with magnetic stripe readers are relatively simple devices.
More recently, payment devices that incorporate an integrated circuit (“IC”) have been utilized as payment cards. Some of these payment devices are “contactless” payment devices which communicate with a card reader via wireless radio frequency (“RF”) communication. One example of a contactless payment device are the so-called “PayPass” payment devices which operate pursuant to standards developed MasterCard International Incorporated, the assignee hereof. Other contactless payment devices and systems are also in use or in development.
It has been proposed that the capabilities of a contactless payment device be incorporated into a mobile telephone, thereby turning the mobile telephone into a contactless payment device. Typically a mobile telephone/contactless payment device includes integrated circuitry with the same functionality as the RFID (radio frequency identification) IC of a contactless payment card. In addition, the mobile telephone/contactless payment device includes a loop antenna similar to that of a contactless payment device that is coupled to the payment-related IC for use in sending and/or receiving messages, via short-distance wireless communications, in connection with a transaction that involves contactless payment.
Contactless payment devices in other form factors, such as key fobs, wristwatches, wristbands and stickers, have also been proposed. It has also been proposed that mobile devices other than mobile telephones—such as PDAs with mobile communication capabilities—may also incorporate contactless payment functionality.
In a typical transaction involving a contactless payment device, the contactless payment device is presented to a contactless reader associated with a terminal (such as a POS terminal). An interrogation process ensues in which the payment device exchanges data with the reader. Device holders who are in a hurry in certain environments (such as where the contactless payment device is used in a transit environment, for example) tend to remove the contactless payment device from communication with the reader quickly. This can result in failed transactions. It would be desirable to provide systems and methods to allow such failed transactions to be recovered or at least identified.
Further, it would be desirable to provide a reader architecture and methods which allow the reader and terminal to act in a synchronized manner, allowing the logic data associated with (or available to) the terminal to be provided to the terminal in a synchronized or stepped process. Still further, it would be desirable to provide a reader which is capable of communication with a variety of different payment device configurations.